Chandy defiant as Kerala govt reopens graft probe

Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy yesterday welcomed a probe into the alleged bar scam and controversial land deals during his government’s tenure.
Chandy’s statement came as the director general of police, Jacob Thomas, began an inquiry into the probe conducted earlier by his department into two controversial deals.
Addressing reporters here, Chandy said he welcomed any probe as all parties during the state assembly election campaign had made the theme of fighting corruption their central plank.
“Yes, let them go ahead with their work. During the election campaign the then Left opposition had said they would scrutinise 800 decisions we had taken at the fag end of our tenure,” Chandy pointed out.
The former chief minister said the 800 decisions, which the then opposition had termed as ‘corrupt deals’, had now come down to 46. “Of these 18 are deals that cannot be cancelled. So let them go ahead with their probe,” a defiant Chandy declared.
“What we hear now is that they are scrutinising the sanctioning of government-aided schools in the private sector for the mentally challenged, autistic children and those suffering from cerebral palsy. In this case, I am the culprit and I will appear before the probe official, the moment they launch an investigation.
“In our state, while ordinary students studying in government schools get free education, there is only one school in the government sector for special needs children. So it was me who decided to sanction such schools in the aided segment and I am prepared to answer all questions,” Chandy said.
His assertion comes as the director general of police decided to seek legal advice on the manner in which K M Mani, finance minister in Chandy’s government who quit following allegations of having received a bribe to reopen shut bars, got a clean chit in two separate probes conducted by the vigilance department after the allegations surfaced.
Thomas, who was additional director general of police during the vigilance probe last year, was transferred out from the department by the Chandy government.
Thomas has also decided to have a re-look into an alleged land deal done in the capital city during Chandy’s tenure.
“We have nothing to hide and hence we are ready to face the probe,” Chandy stressed.